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The animal needing something knows how much it needs, the man does not.

— Democritus Freeman (1948)

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Variants

The needy animal knows how much it needs, but the needy man does not.

More quotes by Democritus

Medicine heals diseases of the body, wisdom frees the soul from passions.

Freeman (1948)

No power and no treasure can outweigh the extension of our knowledge.

Durant (1939)

Beautiful objects are wrought by study through effort, but ugly things are reaped automatically without toil.

Freeman (1948)

Immoderate desire is the mark of a child, not a man.

Freeman (1948)

The laws would not prevent each man from living according to his inclination, unless individuals harmed each other; for envy creates the beginning of strife.

Freeman (1948)

All Democritus quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Democritus (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.